DING DING!!! - I HEAR THE BELL FOR ROUND 2 and this time there is plenty to eat!

[sassyboo62]

Round 2, Day 1 - Ding, Ding

 

I still am not sure that I am going to do another full round.  But what I do know is that I am not ready to stop.  It doesn't have anything to do with being afraid to ride my own bike, but I am now super motivated because of my personal results from Round 1.  No I didn't have an earth-shattering weight loss, heck, if I went by the weight loss, I'd run screaming from this program.  It's not so much what I lost, as what I gained!!!  I gained a sense of confidence back in myself.  I gained a sense of willpower!  I gained a sense of strength!  I gained a sense of commitment to self and seeing that commitment through!.  Yes, I lost a few pounds (2.1 to be exact) and a whole boatload of inches (15"), but that still takes a back seat to all the health benefits I gained.  I don't want to lose this feeling.  So for right now, I'm continuing on.  This is a good month to do it.  No holidays, no special events that I can't eat around ( a fair this weekend and a niece's bridal shower).  Other than that, a good month to keep going. 

 

I am so excited to see what this round will bring me.  It can only be great things, because it can only get better from here!

 

Meal 1 - had to fast because of doctor's appointment and bloodwork

Meal 2 - Egg, chicken sausage, steamed veggies w/ghee; apple

Meal 3 - Tuna salad; buffalo cauliflower; 1/2 avocado; raisin/carrot salad. 

Day is done! 

[Deb.]

Good luck!!

 

Find fun ingredients and compliant recipes here:

 

http://forum.whole9l...ay-of-whole-30/

 

http://forum.whole9l...hole-30-part-2/

[sassyboo62]

Round 2, Day 2 - And that stupid candy corn is still mocking me in Wal-Mart and the yuckiness of a flu shot

 

I can not wait until this month is OVER.  I will be so glad to be able to go to Wal-Mart or the grocery store or the drug store and not see candy corn everywhere.  I am so sick of it.  Now instead of tempting me, it is pissing me off LOL and that's better than the cravings. I promised myself if I go off road, it's not going to be for some mass produced .89 cent candy bar or crap sugar.  It's going to be for something truly handmade, delicious, or exotic.  I am originally from Buffalo and the only thing I think would even come close to this is homemade sponge candy from Fowlers Chocolates or some homemade brickle from a little candy store in the North Georgia Mountains.  Seriously though, I got through my quick pick up today without really stressing it.  It really is freeing knowing what you are going to eat and what exactly you need to buy.  Most of my grocery trips go much quicker now because I don't have to go up and down aisles trying to put together a meal plan in my mind.  I know what I need, I can shop pretty much the perimeter of the store with the exception of some tuna, coconut milk, spices and olive oil.  And cooking is getting much easier too.  I am learning to put together quick paleo Whole 30 meals, instead of having these massive recipes and cookups.  They were my life saver in the first two weeks of Round 1, but I am learning to fly and spread my wings.  I'm feeling freer than I have in a long time.  I am by no means "healed" and I'll probably struggle my whole life with the sugar demon, but I feel free, no longer bound by cravings or bingeing.

 

As for the flu shot - I refused to take one for years because the only time I ever got a pneumonia shot, I ended up with pneumonia, but 28 years of smoking (I quit 8 years ago this week) wrecked havoc with my lungs and left me with very impaired lungs, COPD (bronchitis and asthma) so when I get sick, it is pretty debilitating.   I had not had the flu in 18 years and other than the pneumonia, several bouts of bronchitis and one with pleurisy, I've been pretty healthy.  Until last year - the flu hit me and it hit me hard the day before Christmas Eve.  I ended up missing all our family get-togethers and was really sick almost to the point of hospitalization, which I stubbornly refused.  Three weeks later when I finally recuperated, I swore I'd get the flu shot this year.  I did, but today I feel kind of yucky.  My throat is sore, my body is achy and I'm tired.  I know this will pass but for today, it's been a little hard.  I usually deal with the sore throat with some moonshine cough syrup (don't laugh, it works).  'Shine is mixed with honey and lemon and you sip on it.  It really soothes the throat and stops the cough.  I have just been sipping on tea instead.  Oh well, this too shall pass and hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to my perky self.  I will say, I did think twice about the flu shot because I wasn't really sure what is in it and thought about all the toxins I could be introducing to my body, but seriously, for me, it was just the best choice. 

 

Meals:

 

Meal 1 - Fasting doctor appointment

Meal 2 - (this was brunch - late breakfast, early lunch) egg, 2 chicken sausages, carrot/raisin salad, sliced cucumbers w/creamy Italian dressing

Meal 3 - Kahlua chicken, steamed veggies, sweet potato w/ghee, cole slaw. 

 

Thankfully all appointments are over for the week and I can get back on schedule. 

[Kaatje64]

We can do this! Sugar is my week point as well and besides that I'm a grazer. I love to nibble on something the whole day and that has to stop. Keep up the good work and fly the whole30

[sassyboo62]

Round 2 - Day 3 - Weekend of temptation coming up.....

 

Still feeling pretty yucky from either 1) flu shot on Thursday or 2) seasonal allergies.  Either way I feel bad.  Runny nose, hacking cough, sore throat and just plain old tired.  So I actually went to the doctor feeling great and came home feeling sick.  Go figure.  One great thing is I did get my blood results back and my doctor told me to keep doing whatever I'm doing because it's working.  My overall cholesterol has come down 16 pts., my LDL (bad) cholesterol has come down 25 pts.  My A1C (diabetic indicator) is down .4 pts to a 5.8 and I am back to pre-diabetic numbers and all my vitamins/minerals and blood are normal.  I haven't taken a vitamin or mineral supplement in a month so that proves that I am getting all my nutrition from my diet.  I am very pleased with these results.

 

I have a very full weekend coming up.  Saturday I am manning a booth for my volunteer organization at a small festival in our town.  This will go from 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m..  That is a long time to try and figure out how to eat compliant.  I am going to eat a sweet potato with ghee prior to leaving the house as I just can't tolerate a heavy meal that early.  I'll pack jerky, fruits, some veggies and I have squeezable fruits/veggies also.  Since there is no power, I'm not sure how I can take anything to heat up, so I may go find a piece of grilled chicken with no BBQ sauce.  But no sweets or treats and that is where the temptation will lie.  Candy apples, funnel cakes, all the typical fair type food.  But nothing will taste as good as I feel right now (well, not right now because of the hacking and stuff), but healthwise, I feel better than I ever have and I'm not going to derail it for fair food.

 

Sunday I have a bridal shower to go to with all the typical shower food.  I am bringing a fruit tray, so I can nibble on that, but will make sure I eat a good meal prior to leaving home.  Still, this will really be my first social situation since starting my Whole 30 on September 1st so I am praying to get through it intact and without putting a single bite in my mouth. 

 

Meal 1 - Egg, chicken sausage, apple

Meal 2 - Chicken, mushroom/spinach salad w/creamy Italian dressing; olives

Meal 3 - Chicken, coleslaw, buffalo cauliflower

[Guest sareemaree]

Congratulations on your lab results!

[Brewer5]

Sassy, I am so very happy for you on your bloodwork.  Going from sugar-holic back to pre-diabetic numbers in just 30 days...  Just imagine what you can do with this next 30!  Seriously, great work.  You should be so proud.  

[sassyboo62]

Brewer5 - that was a huge surprise and a very nice bonus to the Whole 30.  I am so thankful to have found this.  It has been truly life changing for me!!!

[sassyboo62]

Day 4 - Cold fair fun, with a not so fun "cold" on a cold, windy day

Day 5 - Dare I hope I have the sugar dragon hibernating??

 

Day 4 - Committed to helping my friend man a booth at our small town fair for our volunteer organization.  I woke up still battling sinus problems, hacking, barking cough - but took a couple of Tylenol and got my day rolling.  I swear, when I stepped outside my house it was about 60 degrees.  By the time I got dressed and to the fair, the temp dropped another 10 degrees and the wind picked up.  By the time the sun rose, it dropped another 5 degrees and I was freaking freezing and didn't have on near enough clothes for the weather.  Thankfully, I had a hoodie in my car, but still spent the day wishing I had a snuggie!!  We could see the sun on the opposite side of the street, but it never hit our side until about 12:00.  I drank so much black coffee trying to keep warm that I spent half my day running back and forth to the ladies room (but hey, it sure was warm in that restaurant).  Finally, the sun came to our side and we thawed out a little, but that wind was pretty wicked.  I went and walked around for a bit and found me some pulled pork (couldn't find grilled chicken for anything - they had plenty of FRIED stuff though).  The lady looked at me a little strange when I told her I didn't want any sauce or bun, no chips or drink, to just to slap the meat in the foil and I'd eat it with a fork.  I really shouldn't eat pork, it bloats my stomach pretty bad and of course, this did just that.  But I had to eat something and that was the absolute lesser of all evils.  It wasn't cooked in anything, just smoked pork.  And as I walked around, all the funnel cakes, cotton candy, candy apples, and all these sweet cakes, pies and treats were everywhere.  There was Halloween candy on almost every table but none of it held my attention.  It was tempting only because it was there, but it wasn't one of those tempting that I waged war with my self on.  I never really gave any of it a second thought.  It smelled good, but I didn't want it. To me that is a sweet taste of victory!  I went back to my booth, ate my pork, ate my apple slices and some of my squeezable fruit/veggie mix and drank another cup of hot coffee.  By the time I left there after spending the day in the cold and wind, my voice sounded like those sexy stars of the 50's used to sound - deep, sexy and low LOL.  I sure didn't feel like a sexy star.  I felt like a frozen popsicle and all I wanted to do was crawl into my jammies and huddle under a blanket on the couch (which I actually did) while my husband cooked our steaks!

 

Meal 1 - Sweet potato w/ghee (way too early to cook) 

Meal 2 - Pork roast, apple, squeezable fruit/veggie

Meal 3 - Ribeye, 1/2 white potato w/ghee, steamed broccoli; grapes

 

Day 5 - Woke up still talking like Rita Hayworth and even more stuffed than before.  I feel like a new version of the 7 Dwarfs  - sneezy, coughy, barky, hacky, drippy, stuffy, and snotty.  It's really, really hard to not take anything.  I have a medicine cabinet full of stuff that, while it won't cure me, will at least lessen the severity of the symptoms, but everything has stupid sugar in it.  Why put sugar in medicine????  Why???

 

So today was my niece's bridal shower and this is really my first social engagement other than lunch with a friend since I started my Whole 30 back on September 1.  I prepared a nice fruit tray and some sliced cheese.  Now cheese is one of my first loves and I won't say I didn't have a moment of wanting to put a piece in my mouth, but it passed really really fast and I didn't even have to wage war on myself.  The shower had all the typical shower food and a wonderful tray of cupcakes.  I never gave them a second glance.  I ate a plate of fruit and drank some black coffee.  Luckily I had eaten a late meal 1, so I knew I could make it until I got home to eat.  I felt really at peace just being able to socialize without the mindless eating I would have normally done.  When I got home, I made myself a meal and was totally satisfied.  And it was while I was sitting there thinking about the shower and the fair, that it also registered that I went shopping on Friday at Wal-Mart and didn't have to wage war on myself over the Halloween candy either.  I didn't even acknowledge it.  So dare I hope that the sugar dragon that plagued me about 10 days ago, is hibernating in her lair?  Even with feeling bad, which is when I normally derail anything, I feel more in control of my options, my temptations, and my reasoning.  I have firmly put into my mind the progress I see in my pictures and in my bloodwork and do not want to derail that over common junk food.  So day 35 is at an end.  I am a little burnt out on the food I have been currently eating, so it is time to go back to some cookbooks and find some new meals to try.  Still very excited about what the rest of this journey holds.

 

Meal 1 - Kahlua chicken, sweet potato

At shower - fruit plate (pineapple, grapes, kiwi); black coffee

Meal 2 - Meatballs in Italian sauce w/mushrooms and onions; beef jerky

Meal 3 - Beef jerky w/butternut squash w/ghee and steamed broccoli; apple

[Brewer5]

Sassy, what about boiling some water like you would boil for tea, but just mix it in your mug with the juice from 1/2 lemon?  I LOVE that, and have used it a few times when feeling like I was getting sick... or even just in the place of coffee, when I just wanted a hot beverage.  Fresh-squeezed lemon juice should be great for healing.  Hope you feel better soon!

 

Also, the flu you describe from last winter sounds horrible....  Your immune system should be in SUCH a better place this year to fight things off.  Having the sugar and processed crap out is HUGE for healing, too.

[pingu]

A clove or two of raw garlic always helps, if you can stomach it

 

Doing well!

[sassyboo62]

Day 6 - No more flu shots for me! A day of DVR catch-up

Day 7 - I think I'm going to live

 

So yesterday was by far the worst day of this illness saga for me.  I woke up absolutely miserable, hacking, stopped up and coughing and coughing.  I knew I had to break down and take something to begin the healing process.  I tried to get suggestions from this forum, from my FB partners and friends, and what it all came down to, I finally just took two Dayquil and laid up on the couch all day catching up on Under the Dome, Walking Dead reruns and whatever else caught my fancy.  The ingredients in the Dayquil included Sorbitol but I'm chalking it up to an emergency.  I didn't eat it or crave it, it was a necessity to make me feel better.  I tried to do it the healthy way, but at least it started drying me out some and stopped the infernal coughing.  However, not being able to taste my food or smell anything, really threw me off of wanting to eat.  I tried to eat some protein for breakfast, but the texture of it just wouldn't go down.  I ended up making a pot of sweet potato/coconut milk soup and grated some ginger into it.  The warmth of it felt good and it was a good substitute for what I usually want when I'm sick - KFC mashed potatoes and gravy.  Why do we crave comfort foods when we are sick?  I always thought it goes back to childhood, but truthfully, there wasn't anything comforting about my childhood. least of all, food related.  But when I'm sick I always crave those potatoes and popsicles.  I knew I didn't have popsicles but I did want something cold to sooth my throat, so I made a fruit smoothie out of frozen fruit and coconut milk.  It helped ease the fire in my throat and everything started calming down.  I took two Nyquil before I went to bed and woke up this morning feeling much better.  My cough is gone and although still stopped up, not quite as bad as I've been.  I went out and bought a Neti Bottle w/saline solution and used that this evening.  Now that was quite an experience!!!  Can't say it was pleasant, but it sure did help. 

 

So I'm back on track and hopefully on the mend.  I managed to stay compliant with my food, although my meals yesterday lacked protein, I made up for it today. 

 

I am so proud of the fact that I didn't give in to anything.  I could have used the excuse that I was sick to eat foods or drink drinks (hot chocolate or apple cider) that weren't on plan or to just give up until I "felt better", but I was determined to stay my course and not give up. 

 

So on to Day 38 I go. 

 

Meals Monday:

 

Meal 1 - Kahlua chicken; sweet potato w/ghee

Meal 2 - Sweet potato soup/coconut milk

Meal 3 - Sweet potato soup/coconut milk; frozen fruit smoothie w/coconut milk

 

Meals Tuesday:

 

Meal 1 - Beef Jerky (had early morning meeting)

Meal 2 - Meatballs and Italian sauce; mixed green salad w/creamy Italian dressing

Meal 3 - Hamburger; buffalo cauliflower

[Brewer5]

Here's what I think about flu shots:  [censored]

 

LOL.  

 

This is awful.  Hope you are all better soon.

[sassyboo62]

Brewer5 - I can only imagine what the censor part of that response was.  I can tell you that I'll never take another one.  I have never had one and the only reason I did it was because I was so sick last year with the flu.  Well crap, I think I'd rather chance the flu.  At least you can take Tamiflu and get over it in a few days.  This has been sucky!.  But I am so hoping I'm on the mend.  I did have more energy today than the last few days, so that is a big plus.  This same thing happened when I got the pneumonia shot - I ended up spending 7 days in the hospital with pneumonia.  My body does not like these things! 

[Tina Marie]

Sassy - sorry to hear that you got so ill.  I have had the flu shot for years because my youngest has asthma and she needed the family to have the flu shot.,  I have never had a reaction like you did ....  so glad you are on the mend.    

[sassyboo62]

Round 2, Day 8 (Day 38) - I can't let other's experiences influence my own.......

 

Day 38 - I not only completed my first Whole 30, I am still rolling on my second one.  I only committed to Whole 7's this time around, but since I am done with my first Whole 7, I think I'll go into my second one.  I keep trying to talk myself into a reintroduction, but truth be told, I'm scared.  I am part of a great Facebook support group, but so many of those who ended their rounds on Day 30, fell right back face first into life on Day 31, 33, 35 or 37.  And now they can't find the desire or motivation or willpower to start back up.  I'm already reading the typical "diet" responses of "I did 'good' all day, until after dinner and then it was a free-for-all of wine, chocolate and chips" and the one I always used most often "I'll restart tomorrow".   How do you fall back into that trap so soon after completing this? How did you not learn a lesson?   I don't want to go there!!! I don't want to be that person anymore!!!  But I know it isn't realistic to stay on Whole 30 forever.  And I am trying so hard not to let their experiences influence my experience and their setbacks don't have to be mine.  I know I have to devise a plan for Life After Whole 30 and I don't want it to be the standard "I'll eat paleo 80/20".  I have to have a plan.  I have to have my own rules saying when I can have a special treat, what kind of food I am going to eat, what kind of food I am going to avoid at all costs, what foods are my FWOB.  And I know in order to figure out some of these, I am going to have to go back out into the "real world".  But for now, I am going to continue on in my journey, at least for a few more days, and around Day 14 (or Day 44), I may revisit my plan and start reintroduction. 

 

I am finally starting to feel like myself again.  I am still pretty snotty nosed, but I am dealing with it and haven't had to take any more medicine.  I am liking the nasal douche thing though. At first it was really uncomfortable, but today, it actually felt good and I can breath so much better afterwards. 

 

I also realized that my meals have really been lacking the last few days of being sick, mainly because I just didn't want to cook.  So I've had the tendency to eat what was on hand and that really didn't equal a good meal.  When I woke up with cravings this morning, I realized that I needed to get back to eating lots of protein and lots of fat.  I really need to give up nuts too.  I think they have a tendency to be a FWOB for me. 

 

Meal 1 - 2 eggs fried in ghee; sweet potato; buffalo cauliflower; handful macadamia nuts

Meal 2 - Beef jerky; apple; almond butter; handful macadamia nuts

Meal 3 - Hamburger; guacamole made w/onions, cilantro & hot sauces; cucumber salad w/mayo

 

Day 38 is at a close. 

[ChiggerCane]

It's freaky how my thoughts come out in your words...LOL.  Flu shot here too and some illness, not as badly as you.  I'm thinking the fall allergy season has kicked up here in GA.  Hope you feel better soon.

[sassyboo62]

Round 2, Day 10 (Day 40) - I only thought I was ready......

 

Yesterday I was contemplating beginning my reintroduction on Day 46. There are not many foods I want to reintroduce, but I am really missing yogurt and would love to have some for breakfast.  And gum.  I miss chewing gum!    So last night, I started to make a plan of reintroducing yogurt.  Got up this morning, and figured why wait until next week, I'll just start it Saturday morning.  So in running my errands today, I stopped by the grocery store and this is how it all went:

 

Went by the deli - nope nothing there I can eat.  Barely even gave a glance at the specialty cheese case or the bakery.  Over to produce and stocked up on my fruits and veggies for the weekend.  From there, went to the "health food" section which, in this particulate store, is an absolute joke.  As I rounded an aisle, bam, there were some health food bars.  The name of them escapes me right now, but my eyes focused in on one called "dark chocolate turtle".  I stopped, looked at the ingredients and saw they were made out of "dark chocolate chips, dates, figs, cashews, almonds, and brown rice syrup".  They were dairy, gluten and blah blah free.  All I could see was the chocolate.  And I realized, there was something else I missed in my diet, dark chocolate!!!  So I figured "okay, maybe it's time to add back in some chocolate" (never mind where the brown rice syrup figured into this).  So I threw three of those suckers into my cart and went right over to the "healthy" yogurt.  Not so healthy was more like it.  I don't care if it's made from grass fed cows - when you add artificial sweetener to it, it ceases being healthy.  So I didn't get my yogurt.  Very disappointed.  Then I went over to the meat department to stock up on my chicken/apple sausage.  And I saw a pineapple/bacon sausage from the same company.  All natural ingredients, so I turned it over.  I think sugar was listed as the third ingredient and I thought "well, I have to start somewhere" so I threw that in my cart too.  I decided to try and find some compliant dried cranberries, but all those had sugar added to them too, and I just couldn't buy them.   Off to the dairy section I went to see if there was any yogurt I could eat there.  I was determined not to get any run-of-the-mill artificial sugar filled pudding disguised as yogurt.  Nothing there so I headed towards the checkout.  But as I was looking in my cart, I thought to myself, if I take those bars home, they would probably be food without brakes because of the chocolate, and seriously, why do I want that sausage anyway?  I could grill some pineapple, fry some bacon and eat it with some chicken and there wouldn't be any added sugar.  So I turned my cart around, put the bars back and the sausage back, but did pick up there Larabars (for emergencies) and headed to the checkout. 

 

So what I realized today was that what I am really craving is sugar.  And I was proud of myself because for another day, I managed to defeat that dragon.  I know I can't keep this up, but I will say that the habits I've gotten into during my Whole 30 + have really taken hold in my brain.   I know the day is coming that I am going to give in and eat sugar.  It's inevitable.  It's part and parcel of who I am.  I am a sugar addict.  But I don't have to let it derail my life or control it.  I realized that I am going to have to find a balance and give myself permission to eat something that isn't compliant and I am going to have to eat it without guilt.  I think that is what I have loved most about my journey - eating without guilt because I've followed this plan to a "t". 

 

So for today, I'm still forging on my journey.  I think I am going to ease into life without reintroduction and just start "riding my own bike" and see where it takes me.  So I may be starting another log before long in another section.  This has been an amazing journey and I am so proud that I completed Round 1 and beyond.  That was quite an accomplishment. 

[Tina Marie]

You have done amazing !   I think you have come a long way Baby !